Research design & review of

literature
Research design
What it entails?
• The strategy/framework employed to pursue research
from the initial to the final stage.

Starts with research questions and follows:

research questions, theoretical framework, approach to
answering the research questions, methods of data
collection, data analysis and interpretation.

Philosophical assumptions (ontology and epistemology)

will play a big role, whether implicit or explicit!
Bad research questions
Not empirically testable, non-scientific
• Does free will exist?
• What is the purpose of human life?
• Should out-migration from rural areas be stopped?

General topics/non-specific/vague
• What are the problems in rural areas?
• Poverty in rural areas/slum areas?
• What can be done to prevent negative effects of
climate change?
Research design as a framework for data collection & analysis

Designs Quantitative Qualitative

Experimental Control and treatment groups
randomly assigned; quasi-
experimental & ex-post facto
(groups not randomly assigned)
Cross-sectional Sample of cases in single point of
time as in survey research.
Longitudinal Survey more than one time, panel
and cohorts
Case-study Single case
Quasi-experimental & ex-
post facto design, not the
experimental design*.
Interviews or focus groups
at a single point of time.
Ethnographic research
Single case

Comparative Comparison of cases (small-n, Ethnographic or qualitative

large-n studies) interview in more cases.

Source: Bryman (2016) pp.63

Typical process of quantitative research
• Theory
• Hypothesis
• Research design
• Measures of concepts
• Research site
• Research subjects
• Data collection
• Process and analyze data
• Findings & conclusions

Source: Bryman (2016) pp.109

Typical process of qualitative research
• Research questions
• Research site and subjects
• Data collection
• Interpretation of data… (Collection of further data)
• Conceptual & theoretical framework…. (better
research questions)
• Findings and conclusions

Source: Bryman (2016) pp.297

Typical guide to research design (methods & analysis not included)

• Choose a topic of interest (use personal experience,

something in the media, problem you want to solve, socially
useful, personal values, everyday life experiences etc.)
• Generate research questions (use earlier studies, findings
and theories, talk to people/experts)
• Narrow questions to a geographical unit, time-period or
specific group of population.
• Decide on aims and objectives: exploratory, descriptive,
explanatory.
• Depending on questions choose amongst qualitative,
quantitative or mixed-methods approach.
• Data collection, analysis/interpretation, conclusions!
Literature review
• Goals
Familiarity with a body of knowledge in your chosen area/topic/subject
of interest
Getting to know prior research in the area/topic/subject
Summarize what is already known
Learn from others ideas/approaches/findings
How to conduct literature review
• Sources to be used
Scholarly/academic journals for research papers
Books and book chapters in academic databases
Working papers (grey literature)
Policy reports by research and academic institutions
(grey literature)
Commissioned research reports by government or other
institutions (grey literature)
Newspapers, magazines and other periodicals (credible)

Even Wikipedia helps if you are new to an area as it gives

you several links to follow up on a given topic/subject 
What to look for ?
• Look for relevance of titles: matches your area/subject
• Read the abstract if it matches your area/subject.
• Read the full paper
Key findings
Methods used for data collection, analysis
Sources used (references)
Group assignment-2
• Choose a topic that you will work on for the final project.
• Go to Google Scholar; search 5 research articles that are
relevant and open access using keywords from your topic;
• You can also use basic google search as it gives links to
relevant research articles many times.
• Prepare a presentation comprising:
a) Reason behind choosing a topic (1 slide).
b) Key findings, similarities and differences and summary of
5 research articles(2 slides at max).
c) Lessons for your research project based on 5 articles. (1
slide)
d) Reference of the 5 articles in APA format (1 slide).
References

Bryman, A. (2016). Social Research Methods (International edition).

Oxford University Press: New York.

Lawrence, N.W. (2015). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and

Quantitative Approaches (7th edition). Allyn and Bacon: Noida.

Mishra, P. (2015). Business Research Methods. Oxford University

Press: New Delhi.